A healthy birth is the kind of birth which takes place in a healthy body, without any drugs or interventions, but with expert back-up, in case it’s needed. In a nutshell, 'healthy' means following our bodies' spontaneous processes.

As you probably know, many, many terms have been used for birth over the last few decades! 'Healthy' is a word we can use to refer to the vast majority of women.

In a healthy birth the focus is on helping the woman's body to do its work efficiently and therefore safely. Both experts and women have actually discovered quite a lot about how to do this over the last few years… Although no so-called 'pain-relief' is used in a healthy birth, women who have one typically experience far less pain than women who go for epidurals, pethidine, diamorphine, gas and air or any of the other drug-based approaches. This is simply because in a healthy birth the body's processes are not disturbed (so they proceed more smoothly), the baby inside is not forced to emerge under the influence of drugs (which might well make it more difficult for him or her to breathe on emergence) and the woman maintains complete alertness, which means she moves, pushes or stops in full awareness of what's going on in her body - which in turn means she usually does herself far less damage, or even none at all. Obviously, this has far-reaching advantages in terms of avoiding incontinence or sexual problems in later life. For the baby an undrugged birth is far better because he or she suffers none of the ill effects of those drugs - which might not only affect his breathing, but also his ability to breastfeed and his ability to see his new mum and dad, which also has an impact on bonding.

Countless women, men, children and professionals say so! Over 200 contributors to the Fresh Heart books speak about their personal experiences of healthy birth. People who've experienced it very often tend to get quite evangelical, simply because they become acutely aware of what some other women, men and babies are missing out on.

Having a healthy birth doesn’t mean going without medical support. It simply means avoiding any unnecessary interventions!

Research has repeatedly shown that healthy, unmedicated birth is safest for both mother and baby. A healthy, undisturbed birth also results in a much better overall experience. If the physiological processes take place smoothly, a newborn is completely alert and able to breastfeed and relate properly to the people around him or her. The mother also feels alert and is able to respond to her new baby. All the hormones she needs in order to do what new mothers have to do are produced efficiently, because the spontaneous physical processes have not been disturbed. Most women experience a high level of peace, even exhilaration after a normal, healthy birth and can easily resume daily activities within minutes of having given birth. Sex is usually easier too because the woman’s heightened perception during the birth means she doesn’t allow any damage to occur to her sexual organs. This also means the likelihood of less pain after the birth, because the risk of tearing and bruising is lower. Finally, the mother’s experience of breastfeeding is likely to be much better because many drugs used for pain relief weaken a baby’s suck. With a normal suck, a newborn can easily get the colostrum and milk he or she so badly needs, without hurting the mother. So normal, healthy birth means a less painful experience for the woman overall, both physically and psychologically, fewer health risks and a better deal for the baby.

Some comments from Sylvie Donna...

I well remember my apprehension… er, fear … before my first labour. The prospect of unpredictable, uncontrollable pain was incredibly frightening. I know from what other women have told me that this pain prompts many women to go for maximum pain relief or even a caesarean. However, I personally felt I somehow had to get through a normal, unmedicated labour and birth for the sake of the baby. On both a rational and an intuitive level I knew that any kind of pain relief might affect him or her. Since then, I’ve discovered it was also very much to my own advantage to go without pain relief.

How much do you really know about the normal, healthy physiological processes of birth? How well can you predict how you’ll feel? And most importantly… how can you prepare so you’re in the best possible situation when you go into labour?

"Pain is not such an awful thing, in my opinion. I know you could quote me as having said something different 10 minutes away from delivery, but I was desperate - emotionally - and surprised by what was happening - it didn’t fit the descriptions in the books! Most of the things I’ve done in life which have been really important to me have involved some sort of pain - emotional or physical - or endurance. I would have had no sense of achievement if I had had painkillers when giving birth. I would have felt out of control".

• Drugs have an impact on your first few moments, hours and days with your new baby. Pethidine – which is very commonly used in labour –‘depresses the respiratory centre’ (i.e. it makes it more difficult for the baby to breathe in the first few minutes) and it also ‘suppresses the sucking reflex’ (meaning that babies who’ve been exposed to pethidine or epidurals can’t usually breastfeed so well or at all when they’re born). Any opiates, such as morphine or diamorphine will weaken a newborn baby’s ability to suck. (Did you know that ‘diamorphone’ is actually 100% heroin?) Common sense tells us that even drugs which only affect the baby for ‘a second or two’ will have an impact if they are used over a period of time – as is the case with ‘gas and air’.

• If babies are exposed to drugs their consciousness is bound to be different during labour and when they are first born. Some preliminary research has suggested that when babies experience labour and birth in a drugged state, they are more susceptible to drugs in adolescence. (I’ve often wondered why recreational drugs such as ecstasy and marijuana are so popular in youth culture, just a generation or so after pain relief became more widely available to labouring women …) Perhaps it’s important not to rob the baby of the normal experience of birth because this is the first of many difficult transitional periods a person will need to go through in life, preferably without the ‘support’ of drugs. Babies whose mothers’ blood pressure is low because of an epidural receive oxygen more slowly. Other substances carried in the blood across the placenta are also exchanged at a slower rate. This could have an impact on the babies’ behaviour in labour and could cause ‘fetal distress’ which can, of course, completely change the type of births they eventually experience because forceps or a caesarean may be deemed necessary.
• Contractions stimulate babies’ lungs so that they are better able to breathe when they are born. Babies who are born by caesarean more frequently experience breathing difficulties at birth. Perhaps both the drugs and the manner of birth are important in establishing regular and effective breathing patterns at birth.
• The endorphins which you will produce in response to any pain you experience (when non-drugged) will also have a beneficial effect on your baby. First, they will help to prepare his or her lungs for breathing. Second, they will help to protect your baby’s brain and organs from dips in oxygen during the birth.
• If you make noises while you are experiencing pain, perhaps this is also useful for the baby! This may sound daft, but he or she is likely to be woken up – in all senses of the word! – by these noises, so he or she is likely to suspect that some unusual event is coming up! I personally prefer to be woken up before a hurricane hits my house…
• A baby in full natural awareness will be more alert after the birth. Of course, this is extremely helpful at the beginning of the new mother-child relationship. It will mean that initial breastfeeding takes place while the baby is in full control of whatever faculties he or she already possesses – after all, babies can do loads of things even at birth, as long as they’re not under the influence of drugs! It will also mean better learning experiences in the early days of your new baby’s life. Perhaps first impressions and first learning experiences are important …

The most important thing is to understand the normal processes and then make sure they aren’t disturbed. Simply understanding the normal processes will make you feel more comfortable and confident because you will then recognise each stage as it happens when you’re in labour and giving birth – and most importantly, you will know that everything is progressing as it should be. There are other things which are crucial too, if you want to have an normal birth… and these constitute the ten steps described in Preparing for a Healthy Birth.

Eleanor Roosevelt